Parliament assembles to pay tribute

The House of Commons today assembled in sombre special session to pay homage to the Queen Mother.

Tony Blair led the tributes with a simple explanation of why her death had moved the nation: "She loved her country and her country loved her."

Iain Duncan Smith added to the eulogy, saying that the Queen Mother "embodied what is good and noble about the people of our country".

However, the praise was undermined by a simmering Labour revolt - and some notable absentees from the Government front bench.

The Prime Minister made his statement, opening the rare recalled sitting, flanked by his deputy, John Prescott, Chancellor Gordon Brown and Leader of the Commons Robin Cook.

There was no sign of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Home Secretary David Blunkett - or the Cabinet's most outspoken member, International Development Secretary Clare Short.

The Commons benches were, however, filled on both sides by dark-clad MPs as Mr Blair spoke of the "genuine and heartfelt" affection the Queen Mother drew from all classes, all backgrounds, all walks of life.

That, he went on, was not because of the rank she held but because of the person she was. "She came to embody what was best about our past and makes us most optimistic about our future. Her spirit and the British spirit became inseparably intertwined."

Both Mr Blair and Mr Duncan Smith voiced special sympathy for the Queen who had, as the Prime Minister said, "in the space of a few weeks so cruelly suffered the loss of both her sister and mother". She had borne the blows with customary dignity, "continuing to serve the nation even while grieving".

As MPs queued to join the tributes Mr Blair injected a lighter note, pointing out that the Queen Mother, with her "extraordinary vigour and gaiety", was still dancing well into her nineties.

No sooner had the party leaders ended their tributes, however, than the most senior member of the Commons, veteran Labour maverick Tam Dalyell, called for Parliament to use the day to debate the mushrooming crisis in the Middle East. Mr Dalyell, the Father of the House, was the first speaker in today's debate to voice publicly the anger on the Labour Left and more widely in the party after Mr Blair rebuffed their pleas for a Middle East debate.

A minority questioned whether the recall, the first of its kind since last summer, was justified simply as an act of homage. Lib-Dem Norman Baker said earlier today that he and his colleagues had been given ample chance to express their sympathy at the weekend with another opportunity at the funeral next week.

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